so this has been my thing lately, just spinning the dial on 40m after dinner and seeing whats out there. not even transmitting half the time just listening to random ragchews. heard some guys talking about their garden last week for like 45 minutes, had no idea who they were but it was weirdly nice to just have that going in the background while i was doing dishes

idk theres something about 40m at night that just feels different than any other band. skip is usually good enough to hear stuff from all over but not so far that it sounds completely alien. anyway not really a question just curious if anyone else does this kind of aimless listening thing or if thats weird

not weird at all man, thats basically how i got into the hobby in the first place. had a shortwave receiver before i ever got licensed and would just do exactly that. 40m evenings are great for it, you get a real mix of people. sometimes ill catch a net i didnt know existed and just follow along for a while before i even look up what it is

the garden conversation thing is so real lol. half the time the most interesting stuff isnt the dx or the contest activity its just two old timers talking about nothing for an hour. theres a couple guys i hear regularly on 7.250 or so and ive never called in but i feel like i know them at this point

yeah 40 at night is great. i mostly do it when the higher bands are dead which is a lot lately honestly. propagation has been weird this past month or so, 20m dies way earlier than it should and then 40 just kind of picks up the slack. good excuse to just park there and see whats happening